Yost says he wants Ventura, Duffy to embrace competition

Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy are among the candidates for the Royals’ fifth-starter spot. In situations like this, it is common for young players to over-extend themselves. In the baseball parlance, they try to do too much. But manager Ned Yost does not intend to intervene with either Ventura or Duffy before the games begin.

When he toes the slab against his fellow Royals on Monday afternoon, Yordano Ventura will have the first crack at making an impression in the fifth-starter race. He’ll soon be followed by Luke Hochevar, who is starting for the other side in this intra-squad game.

By now, you well know the candidates: Ventura, Hochevar, Danny Duffy and Wade Davis, with Brad Penny and Chris Dwyer on the outside looking in. In situations like this, it is common for young players to over-extend themselves. They throw too hard. They search for the perfect breaking ball. In the baseball parlance, they try to do too much.

Manager Ned Yost does not intend to intervene with either Ventura or Duffy before the games begin.

“I’m not going to tell them to tone it down,” he said. “They’re competing. If they do too much, and the results aren’t good, the results aren’t good. You’ve got to learn when you get into a spot when you’re competing against another player, that can’t happen. Because when you’re competing against another team, that can’t happen.

“They’ve got to learn. They’ve got to learn how to handle competition.”